1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates generally to radar detection of a target, and more specifically, to ground-to-air or air-to-air radar detection of targets using a target specific illuminating waveform and matched filter to optimize the radar receiver's output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
2. Description of the Related Art:
The state of the art of detecting low observable aircraft or other targets using radar has not advanced as quickly as the crafts themselves and their ability to evade detection. Detection to data has been limited in the type and character of modulation that would be applied to a transmitted signal. For example, the transmitters were incapable of applying arbitrary amplitude and phase modulation. With the advent of linear amplifiers, however, arbitrary amplitude and phase modulation is possible.